March 18, 2007 - Des Moines: Iowa's cigarette tax is now $1.36 per pack, following a jubilant bill-signing ceremony Thursday morning (3/15/2007). Gov. Chet Culver signed the bill that raises the tax $1 and also boosts the tax for other tobacco products. The governor cited an estimate that 20,000 Iowans would stop smoking because ofthe higher cost and 40,000 young Iowans would never pick up the habit. Culver said the proceeds from the tax increase will be used to expand access to health insurance and defray some of the taxpayer-covered cost of smoking-related illnesses. The tax will give the state an extra $129.4 million in the fiscal year that begins in July. The 36 cent tax was 42nd highest in the nation. The $1.36 tax (took effect immediately on the wholesale level) is 17th in the nation. The last time Iowa raised its cigarette tax was in 1991, when the tax went from 31 to 36 cents (by Dan Gearino, Sioux City Journal.com)